Vode An: The Complete History of the Clone Army
by Dr. Byrec Solari
Summary: For four years the bloody Clone Wars raged across the galaxy. In its wake would rise the most evil empire ever known. Now, in this fascinating account, Doctor Byrec Solari explores the fighting men who gave their lives in the most pivotal conflict in history and explains who they were, what they did, and the legacy they left behind.
1. Foreword

_**Foreword:**_

Many have asked what it is these men fought for. And there have been nearly as many answers to this great riddle. They fought for glory, for honor, for the Republic, or simply because they had no choice. Public opinion is that these men were nothing more than slaves, killers, pitiful beings indoctrined to fulfill the desires of a great evil. That these amoral creatures are a black mark that, like the Empire we strive to scrub away from our fabric of time. But that would defeat the purpose, would it not? Our New Republic was forged from the blood these men spilt. They caused the Fall, the Rise, and the Rebellion by doing their duty as soldiers. That Grand Army was the precipice from which the galaxy fell into darkness, and without it we would have never seen light. If we wish to prevent another atrocity then we must understand that war. The Clone Wars was a turning point in Galactic history, an event in which these men lived. They were perfect soldiers, men who followed orders without question. Men who knew not of what they were destined to do, merely the job that needed to be done. They were not slaves, they were a family, an army that we needed most. No other being could have accomplished what they did. They were special, they were professional, and they were my brothers. People ask me what it is we fought for. We fought for each other. We died for each other. And we would do it all again.

-Levet Skirata, formerly CC-3388/0021, Commander of the 35th Infantry


	2. Quote

"And glory, eternal glory

We shall bear its weight together.

Forged like the sabers in the fires of death,

Brothers all."

- _Vode An_


	3. Chapter 1

_**CHAPTER ONE: THE BEGINNING**_

The story of the Grand Army of the Republic is a long one. It was a creation of years of planning, backstabbing, deceit, and billions upon billions of credits. The making of this elite fighting force required the work of the finest cloners in the galaxy, the acquisition of the perfect template, and the assembling of trainers to mold them into soldiers. To understand how this army came to be we have to go to the beginning.

 **A Brief History on Cloning**

The cloning of beings was not an uncommon practice by the time the Grand Army of the Republic was created. Organs, skin, and blood were cloned for medical usage while the copying of thoroughbred racing stock had been a favorite, if occasionally frowned upon, enterprise. But before we delve into the history of cloning it is important to understand what exactly cloning is.

Cloning is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals. It is not strictly an industrial process. Various forms of flora and fauna produce clones of themselves without the intervention of a probing biologist. It is an asexual method of reproduction which lacks all the difficulty that comes with fertilization and inter-gamete contact. Industrial cloning works in a similar way. You take the nucleus of a cell and inject it into an egg lacking one. When cell division begins you place it in an artificial gestation pod and in however long a time you desire, an new being is formed identical to the donor. It is a very complicated process and as such the creation of entirely new beings is left to a select few civilizations.

Some civilizations, after the success of the clone army, are now practically household names. Arkania, Polis Massa, and of course, Kamino. But many other worlds have a cloning industry. Khomm, Lur, Ithor, Columus and the Verpine living in the Roche asteroid field have all mastered the art. These worlds and their cloning masters control the cloning market, each offering their own unique product. Arkania is large numbers in a short time frame, Kamino is quality over quantity, so on and so forth. For our purposes we are going to focus on Kaminoian cloning and how it developed into the industry that created one of the finest armies to have ever existed.

 **From Bane to Boon: Kamino's Cloning Industry**

You may already know that the Kaminoans are renowned cloners and the people who created the Grand Army of the Republic. You may also know that to save their species after their planet flooded that they began systematic genocide in order to prevent their extinction. The ethics of their decision will not be debated here but the result was a society dedicated to achieving perfection in the fields of genetics and cloning. The Great Flood, 19,000 BBY, caused the Kaminoans to focus internally and once their survival was insured they began a pursuit of perfection in all aspects of their society. And so began a long process of self improvement that created a culture of what some have called pure ego. They are still striving, endlessly striving, to reach that unobtainable goal.

This self centered culture naturally made the Kaminoans very isolationist, making their world one of the best kept secrets of the galaxy until the Clone Wars. So it was with great hesitation that the Kaminoans opened up their world and services to the rest of the known universe in order to obtain the necessary supplies that one would tend to lose during a global deluge. With few natural resources and few industries the Kaminoans could only provide one export, clones. Not just any clones, but clones of the utmost quality, perhaps the finest ever. Their perfectionism had spread to all facets of Kaminoan culture, so when a customer asked for a product, it would have been a great sin to deliver anything less than the best. They fulfilled a number of contracts, creating armies for mercenary groups and a mining force for the colonies of Subterrel. Word of their expertise spread, but Kamino was still uncommon knowledge, and rarely appeared on any star charts of the period. But in the tight knit and cutthroat market of cloning, it was mutely agreed that if you wanted an army and had the monetary means, you sought out Kamino. And sought them out one man did. A Jedi Master named Sifo-Dyas, unknowingly acting on the whim of Sith Lord Darth Plagueis.

 **The Foundation of an Army**

In 32 BBY the Trade Federation blockaded and then invaded the planet of Naboo after being manipulated by Plagueis and his apprentice, Sidious. Using its power in the Senate to stall any reaction by the Republic, the Federation was free to land its droid army and occupy the planet as a show of force. If not for the actions of Jedi Qui-Gon Jin and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Naboo would have most certainly become a puppet to the powerful organization. As the Jedi mourned the loss of Qui-Gon and celebrated the planet's liberation, a horrifying fact was brought to light. The Sith had returned. Memories of the Sith Wars still rooted in place, Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas sought out a solution to combat the looming darkness he felt was coming. Following the advice of Plagueis, masked as the wealthy businessman Hego Damask, Sifo-Dyas approached the Kaminoans with an order for an army, to be held in reserve until the Jedi so called upon them. Paid for by the Trade Federation and Plagueis, the Kaminoans began the process of creating an army. Sidious found a new apprentice, a fallen Jedi name Dooku. Sifo-Dyas was killed by Dooku to tie up loose ends. Before the Kaminoans could begin the growing of an army they would need a template, a donor to give the cloners the genetic blueprint to craft soldiers. Newly christened Count Dooku was ordered to supervise the project and told to find the best out of the galaxies deadliest mercenaries and eliminate the rouge Jedi Komari Vosa. Dooku decided to solve both issues simultaneously.

With a bounty of five million credits on her head and a lack of preference on whether or not she was delivered alive, Komari Vosa was a target for many bounty hunters. Of all the hunters sent after her only one succeeded, a Mandalorian named Jango Fett. Already a legendary hunter, Jango boosted his fame and lined his pockets upon the hunts violent conclusion. It was then that Count Dooku approached him with an even bigger offer to become the genetic template of an army and oversee its training. Such an job came with a steep price, a fortune in fact, and Jango happily took the offer but added a term of his own, that a clone be set aside for him to raise as a son. Dooku agreed and Jango flew to Kamino, assembling a team of mercenaries to train his clones. Many answered the call and took the credits. In exchange, they had to vanish from the face of the galaxy. They had to become the _Cuy'val Dar_.

 **Those Who do not Exist**

The _Cuy'val Dar_ were, as stated above, a team of mercenaries, assassins, and bounty hunters assembled by Jango Fett for the purpose of training clone soldiers. Due to the secrecy of the project, they had to sever all ties with the rest of the galaxy to the point they were considered dead. The duty of these professionals was the training of the elite Republic Commando squads as well as future cross training of clone troopers. These trainers, now sergeants in the yet to be named Grand Army, were primarily Mandalorian and their culture was picked up by the men they trained. Now with the genes to create them and means to train them, the clone army would begin its formation. This process would take ten years and these men would then be thrust into the galaxy at large to fight in hundreds of campaigns. Until then however, they would have to survive their training.


	4. Chapter 2

_**CHAPTER TWO: RAISING AN ARMY**_

A clone's early life was a comprised of rigorous training, a controlled diet, and frequent performance tests. Failure to perform at the exceptional level resulted in their termination. It was in this high pressure environment that clones learned weapons handling, first aid, communications, hand to hand combat, armor maintenance, the use of their helmet systems, and other tasks benefitting a soldier. Specializations such as sniping, leadership, piloting, and so on were also taught. This trial forged the unbreakable bond they shared with each other, a bond that would survive the horrors of war.

 **Initial Failures**

The process of creating an elite soldier is not an easy one. While Jango was a superb genetic template, he was not perfect. _Cuy'val Dar_ trainer Kal Skirata said it best: "[It] was his solitary nature; he'd make a rotten infantry soldier. Jango wasn't a team player." With this in mind and ever pursuing perfection, the Kaminoans altered Fett's genome, boosting their loyalty, speed, memory, and stamina. Something went wrong however, and this test batch of twelve clones was considered defective. Six did not survive incubation and the survivors were unstable and dangerously insubordinate. Designated the Null-class, they were saved from termination by Skirata who personally trained them into elite black ops soldiers. The Kaminoans, embarrassed, remedied their mistakes in the Alpha-class and all following production runs.

 **Legion: Clone Troopers**

Despite the apparently disastrous tinkering, the Fett genome was still enhanced in the class following the Nulls. These changes focused on their aggression, loyalty, obedience, and discipline as well as increasing their lung capacity, stamina, and decreasing reaction times. The clones also aged twice as fast and would reach combat maturity in ten years. They were dubbed a success and began their training.

For the average clone soldier, they were arranged into birth cohorts of 32 and would remain with them for the extent of their training. There was never a moment when they were apart and once they were ready for combat the cohort would become their platoon. This group established the trainees then learned weapons handling, drill, and other essentials through both flash training and physical exercises. As they aged their training would become more intense, preparing them mentally and physically for the rigors of combat. Deaths did occur during training, but not to the extent of the more elite soldiers. Fett controlled every aspect of their training, choosing their weapons, meals, and the design of their armor (which was meant to match that of traditional Mandalorian suits). This cultivated into a exercise held in what would be called The Crucible. Cohorts would be pitched against an opposing force comprised of their trainers and other clones on simulated battlefields that portrayed all types of environments. Exercises could last days, forcing the clones to combat boredom, sleep deprivation, starvation, dehydration, and the elements in addition to their ruthless enemy. Successful completion meant graduation and more drills to keep their skills sharp. Specialists received additional training. Snipers were taught the art of camouflage, scouting, and were required to have a shot too miss ratio of 99.9%. Pilots spent hundreds of hours in simulators and flying in the constantly stormy skies of Kamino, honing their abilities. Bomb disposal teams faced the perilous instruction that came with defusing live ordnance. Officers were taught leadership and would lead their cohorts on exercises. Days were long, nights spent sore, and a sense of fear permeated the ranks. They had to get it right. They had to be perfect.

Such hardships made down time a much anticipated event and young clones took as much as they could get. It was here they griped, bickered, joked, and talked with their comrades. They grew into themselves, giving each other nicknames to avoid referring to themselves as a string of numbers. To the Kaminoans, they were product and nothing more, but to each other, they were brothers. Clones, beings they were, quickly found ways to avoid the gaze of their Kaminoan overlords. Sealed helmets gave them a private world, bunks provided blind spots to cameras, and the serving droids could be manipulated to grant extra helpings. A clone knew that his safety was with his brothers. Besides their officers and their sergeants, there were no other beings they could trust. For the cohorts, camaraderie was a defense and an identity. For the Commandos, it was a weapon.

 **Hunting Packs: Republic Commandos**

Clone Troopers lived their lives enforce, surrounded by dozens of brothers at all times. Commandos experienced a different reality. Raised in squads of four, Commandos were a tightly knit group of deadly professionals. Unlike their infantry fellows, Commandos benefited from hands on training overseen by the _Cuy'val Dar_. Training was brutal, with Commandos to be forced to crawl through pipes full of guts and blood, perform endless house clearing drills with live rounds, run and march for miles on end, and meet the exacting standards set by program director Lama Su. Each squad was commanded by a sergeant with his subordinates receiving specialized training (in addition to universal advanced combat skills) in demolitions, electronic warfare, and sniping respectively. They were a team, expected to act independently to carry out their orders, often inserted behind enemy lines without support. The Republic Commandos formed the core of Special Operations and would soon achieve an outstanding record of combat effectiveness. Yet they were still outclassed.

 **One Man Armies: Advanced Recon Commandos**

The Advanced Recon Commandos or ARCs operated alone. Trained by Jango Fett himself they were the elite of the elite. Independent, creative, and hyper lethal, they terrorized the Confederacy in a way that no armed body of men had nor will ever be able to match. They were soldiers without equal, men who faced armies alone and came out victorious. If it was too dangerous of the Commandos, you would call in the ARCs. Training was sadistic. Very little is really known, as Fett never shared his methods and the ARCs declined comment. but the results were unquestionable. Tough, stubborn, and ruthless men, they never backed down and never surrendered. Their exploits are the stuff of legend and the aspirations of troopers everywhere. This also caused a disconnect. Despite an unwavering unity by the army as a whole, clones still had divisions amongst themselves. Commandos, ARCs, and Troopers rarely met each other during training if ever. The difference in training created a sense of superiority amongst the Commandos and ARCs between each other and especially the regular infantry. This division would soon come to pass with the army's activation, and a universal brotherhood would be forged on the sandy plains and rocky spires of Geonosis.


End file.
